Let’s think backward through the past few generations and ask … ‘what was the birth paradigm at that time?’
Well, even in traditional cultures today the paradigm is simple … whatever happens in birth is normal and natural even if unpleasant or wonderful
In modern societies when maternity care became scientific and birth took place in hospital the paradigm was … follow your doctor’s orders.
By the 1960s pregnant women wanted change. They were sick and tired of every single birth being treated like an illness with a ga-zillion things done without choice. For a short period during this transition period, a ‘skills-based approach’ to pregnancy and childbirth was the paradigm of the day … Lamaze and Bradley. This lasted just a short period of time and had some weaknesses. The techniques didn’t always adapt when things changed and the philosophy to increase ‘natural’ birth left out too many families. But the beginning of a skills-based approach was born.
By the 1980s the paradigm shifted and remains today … a ‘choice-based’ approach to pregnancy and childbirth through making Birth Plans. Giving pregnant women ‘choice’ is great but with choice was an intentional decrease in skills. The ‘choice’ message basically told pregnant women they didn’t need to learn how to birth but instead would know-how. Fathers were reduced from having an active role as birth coach to birth support.
Now it’s time we marry the skills-based approach with a choice based one. Giving birth is an activity, not just a choice. Mothers-to-be and fathers-to-be/other absolutely must have the right skills so they can work together as a family team with their baby’s efforts to be born.
Birthing Better online birthing classes is a skills-based resource developed by hundreds of ordinary families. They wanted four simple things:
- As safe a birth as possible
- A positive birth as possible
- To feel confident facing the unknown
- To stay in control or on top of the situation no matter what was happening to or around them.
You’ve come to the right place to become a skilled birthing family. How do we build skilled birthing families? One birth at a time.
Birthing Better skills were developed by hundreds of moms and dads and are housed in Common Knowledge Trust